Small habits can lead to big changes in new year, say experts

AMMAN — Experts shared their best advice for building positive habits that will stick through 2022. 

“Habits have a significant impact on our lives, they are the repeated small steps that form the person you are today,” life coach Shayma Awad told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Incorporating new positive habits and eliminating bad ones require a repeated behaviour, Awad noted.

Habits can be explained by a “four-step loop”, according to Awad. 

The first step is the cue, the first indication that triggers the brain to initiate a behaviour; the second step is the craving, which motivates a person to make a change; the third is the response, which is the actual habit that eventually brings about a reward.

It is very important to make a long-term plan, as well as to adjust the new habits to fit the new characteristics a person wants to achieve, she added. 

“The new year has always been the perfect time for a fresh start; when most people decide to make positive changes,” Aya Rashed, a Jordanian nutritionist, told The Jordan Times.

Having a well-defined and specific plan helps reach the desired health goals, according to Rashed.

She commented that it could be useful to keep healthier items in the house to encourage healthy eating behaviours. 

Habits are things that a person does unconsciously, without requiring decision making, she added. 

“The moment you feel that the thing you are doing is not a chore anymore, you have built a new habit,” Rashed said.

“If I can give one piece of advice for people who aspire to form a new fitness habit, it is to start small. Once it becomes easy, they can increase the intensity and frequency of their exercises,” Heba Waleed, a Jordanian fitness instructor, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday. 

“Habits definitely help people reach their goals,” she noted.